clearheaded
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of clearheaded
First recorded in 1700–10; clear + head ( def. ) + -ed 3 ( def. )
Explanation
If you're clearheaded, you're wide awake, focused, and thinking sensibly. A clearheaded student will probably do better on a calculus test than her sleepy, confused classmate. Complex thought and analysis ideally requires a clearheaded thinker — and you can also describe the thinking and decisions themselves as clearheaded. A clearheaded debate between political candidates is much more useful and interesting than a muddled, angry, and confusing argument. The word clearheaded, sometimes spelled with a hyphen, clear-headed, originated in the early 18th century.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“They also understand mortality and are clearheaded about their diagnosis. Many have experience with death and dying” after watching a loved one decline.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
“But he was also not so clearheaded in his vision of the world as many of his modern defenders would like to make him out to be.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
But in 2015, Judge Nora S. Anderson of Surrogate’s Court rejected his claim and cited witnesses who said Mr. Brown had “remained clearheaded and firm-minded even through advanced age.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2022
His legs and lungs burned, but he felt the most clearheaded he had in years.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 21, 2022
Impatience is a fire that rages in clouded minds, and I needed to be clearheaded.
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
